Friday, May 2, 2008

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Gold WSOP footage to be auctioned off

By Jason Kirk

Rae Valentine, a Los Angeles videographer who followed Jamie Gold at the 2006 WSOP Main Event, has announced on a new Web site that he will auction his footage on eBay later this summer.

The Web site, http://jamiegoldpoker.tv, went live earlier this week in the form of a blog with three posts.

Where life's road took them

The first post details what Valentine refers to as a "gentlemen's agreement" with Gold to shoot footage for a documentary of what would turn out to be Gold's championship run at the Main Event. He writes that his friendship with Gold "diminished" shortly after the win.

Valentine claims that he has already lost $150,000 in expenses from following Gold "through airports and hotels, limos and casinos, from Los Angeles to New York, as he sat in front of poker tables in Atlantic City, and while he produced his Reality TV show on a national tour looking for the 'Hottest Mom in America'."

"Where life's road took Jamie Gold, there I was," wrote Valentine.

In the second post, a transcript quotes Gold on the night of his win as saying, "I'm splitting it half with somebody, I'm giving a friend of mine 10%." He then says that in the end he would net $3 million, but concludes "that's fine."

In the final post a transcript portrays a gushing Crispin Leyser - the "somebody" with whom Gold was supposed to split the prize money.

"Ah, Jamie. I love you," Leyser is quoted as saying. "You're awesome. I don't know what to say. I'm so overwhelmed at this moment. We're going to be friends for life."

Gold and Leyser, of course, barely stayed friends for a week after the new champ didn't pay up half of his winnings immediately. Only after a lawsuit from Leyser and a countersuit from Gold had been in U.S. District Court for five and a half months did Gold settle for an undisclosed sum.

The Leyser situation was an immediate tarnish on the reputation of the new champ, something he has worked to overcome in the year and a half since the settlement. Gold has made frequent appearances at charity events, and has participated in televised poker series such as NBC's Poker After Dark.

Still, there are plenty of people who haven't forgotten the champ's misdeeds.

"Simply a business decision"

For his part, Valentine claims that he offered Gold a chance to buy him out nearly a year ago and never received a response. PokerListings.com also received no response to a media inquiry through Gold's Web site requesting comment on the claims made on Valentine's new Web site.

"I have lost a great deal of respect for Jamie Gold, but my purpose of going public has little to do with my personal issues with him," Valentine wrote. "This is simply a business decision to make good on an investment."

A Google search turned up a Web site called Raemix.com, which includes an old profile of Valentine from 2006 describing his involvement "producing and directing a 'Behind The Scenes' documentary for Buzznation and Jamie Gold (1st place winner of the 2006 World Series of Poker)."

The Raemix Web site details Valentine's credentials as a producer of commercials and television shows including "Top DJ Interviews," as well as his acting credits and lifelong involvement with the music industry.

Valentine's father, Harold Brown, was a cofounder of and drummer for the California funk-rock band War, best known for their 1970s hit songs "Low Rider" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?"

Valentine's five-day eBay auction for the 2006 documentary footage is set to end on August 10. No word yet on how high the reserve price has been set.

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